“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Jesus to Mary Magdalene at his empty tomb. (John 20:15)
The cave, east of Aix-en-Provence, is called Sainte-Baume.
According to Roman Catholic tradition, Mary Magdalene spent the last 30 years of her life there. The surrounding forest leads to a small adjoining monastery. Inside the grotto the stone altar holds flickering candlelight. Two relics of the saint include a lock of her hair and the presumed end of a tibia, dark with age.
The skull of Mary Magdalene was found in the 1200s. French Catholics encased it in gold. The Bible describes her a one of Christ’s most loyal followers. She remained at the Crucifixion when others had fled in terror.
Lore holds that the cave had served as a shrine for pagan fertility rites and endures today as a pilgrimage site for those seeking spirituality. Nearby is a smaller cave that had contained the remains of Neanderthals from 150,000 years ago.
That area has been cared for by the Dominican Order since 1295. The Dominicans manage a hostel and receive “pilgrims, students, scholars and other travelers.” The nuns hold Mary Magdalene as a role-model and bless their grounds with a procession yearly that features a piece of bone said to be hers.
After the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene is the most important woman in the New Testament. She was chosen by Christ as the first witness of his resurrection.
A visitor from Iran cried as she knelt in prayer. She had relocated to live in Sweden. “In my home country, all women are invisible in the shadow of power,” she said.
Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and near the Church of the Beatitudes, is the hill where Jesus is believed to have preached his Sermon on the Mount. His message elevated those who seem weakest in the eyes of the world: “The poor and grieving, the truth-seekers, innocents and peacemakers.”
The Bible tells us that Jesus named a dozen of his most devoted disciples apostles or messengers, choosing the number that paid homage to the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 Jews preached their new faith across thousands of miles in the First Century A.D.. They changed history and helped to spread Christianity throughout the Mediterranean.
Levi was named Apostle Matthew. As a tax collector, he was an outcast. So Jesus shocked Jewish society by dining with him. Matthew wrote the first Gospel. Apostle Mark was mentored by Peter who was probably the source for writing the second Gospel. Mark founded the Church of Alexandria. Luke was a physician who joined Paul’s missions. Luke wrote the chronicle of the development of the early church in the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Simon the fisherman was called Peter, the rock. He was the first to invite non-Jews to join the early church. Philip came from Galilee which was the region in northern Israel where Jesus’ ministry was centered. He is thought to have been martyred in Hierapolis.
Apostle Andrew later preached in Greece and the Ukraine. James had been a fisherman and some believe that he preached in Spain and was buried there. Bartholomew may have gone to Turkey, India, or Armenia. Thomas became a missionary in India. Thaddaeus, according to Eastern tradition, converted the city of Edessa after healing its king.
Judas Iscariot later repented leading Roman soldiers to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane for 30 pieces of silver and hanged himself. John wrote the fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation. James was the son of Alphaeus and the Bible reveals little of him.
Columba Stewart, a Benedictine monk and historian at Saint John’s Abbey in Minnesota, said that, “This was the big bang moment for Christianity with the apostles blasting out of Jerusalem and scattering across the known world.”